Super Bowl XLIII

Can I just say that I hate Roman numerals. I'm so glad Obama isn't our XLIVth president.

My money is on the Cardinals (taking the points of course). Though the Achenbro is highly skeptical. He told me, "When your team is named after a wimpy little bird, and the other team is named the Steelers, you've got problems." It does give one pause, doesn't it? Cardinals aren't even scary birds. They're not exactly raptors, you know? Why not just call them the Arizona Parakeets?

I think the keys to the game will be:

1. Blocking, tackling, running, kicking, passing and catching. These factors so often get overlooked amid the hoopla and fanfare of the Super Bowl. Also cheerleading, another one of the "fundamentals" that the TV announcers too often ignore.

2. Cleats. How come we don't hear more about the cleats? There should be a sideline reporter who focuses just on the footwear. But you see the modern fan doesn't understand the game the way it used to be understood, back in the day, when fans were educated, and football players were real men, and they didn't have to rely on sissy stuff like helmets and face masks and mouthguards and padding.

3. The military jet flyover. That can scare the bejeezus out of the players and throw off their game plans. If you see Kurt Warner flinching you know he's going to have a bad night.

4. Bruce. I see him not only performing briliantly at halftime but making some key 3rd down receptions in the second half.

[More insight to come!]

[By the way: I caught the tail end of Obama talking to Matt Lauer. Why were the troops laughing when Obama gave them a shout-out?]

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Greatest play in Super Bowl history? James Harrison rumblin' and bumblin' from goal line to goal line as time expires? I can't think of anything that compares.

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The Boss: I'd give that an A-minus with the minus for the crotch-slam on the camera at the end of his stage-slide.

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I missed the memo on needing 3-D glasses. The Super Bowl was supposed to be the last great unifying cultural event, and yet this year there are people with 3-D vision and those of us with just the 2-D vision. I thought Obama was going to end this kind of divisiveness.

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With 11:21 left in the game I see a miracle finish for the Cards, and a feel-good ending for Old Man Warner. But at the very least they ought to cover the spread.

Joel,
It's the "time delay" that made it look like the troops were laughing at the President. My guess is they were laughing at his Jessica Simpson comment. Lauer pointed out that Simpson had covered him up on the cover of a magazine and Obama said something about Simpson having weight issues! I think he may have been reading the headline.

Joel, you there? I just finished reading April Witt's piece on the Berwyn Mayor's raid. I do believe the WaPo has just published its first Pulitzer-worthy piece of the new year. (You can tell the brass I said so.)

It has a really, reallllly long lede, all the way to the bottom of the second "take," but it is worth it. I cannot see how any dog lover (and there are many in the Boodle, as you know), could possibly make it dry-eyed past the third page. I don't see how any reader could make it to the end without being sad and angry, both. She did a really great job with the narrative.

It's at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302935.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009013002471&s_pos=

I'm sad to say that bc, having delivered an absolutely meatacular chili to the NukeAbode's festivities, will be forced to view the Super Bowl in monocular fashion...

Upon viewing the ad for Dennis Quaid starring in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie, he clapped his hand so hard against his forehead that it stuck, obscuring his left eye. Even Vise-Grips have proven ineffective.

I'm kind of with JA on the bird thing. A team named after a bird, and not a raptor, does induce a certain amount of doubt. But, hey, they could still win. I'm not looking, and not really that interested. Just can't get too hyped about the game. It's probably a female thing. Enjoy the game.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith is available for pre-orders.
"... features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C. E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen's classic novel to new legions of fans."
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,7847/title,Pride-and-Prejudice-and-Zombies/

Let me give a high-five wing wave out to cardinals (the bird) -- I think they are dramatic to look at and even the females are pretty (which is unusual in the bird world). So there!

As for the game, I also don't have a dog in this hunt, so it's a machts nichts for me. Whatever.

But I did think that Jennifer Hudson did a magnificent job with the National Anthem. It's a tremendously hard song to sing, even if, unlike me, you actually can sing. Well, okay, I do alright in the shower, but the accommodations are not suitable to a Super Bowl crowd, if you get my drift.

I'm just about to embark on "the article" and I'm sure I'll be just as seething mad as I was when it was "news".

As for the so-called "interview" with Obama, I gotta tell ya, that guy has the *best* smile! Ever! He's a funny guy, and he is confident enough to be self-deprecating and enjoy the whole thing.

Far be it from me to be critical of your transcription and editing skill, 'Mudge. I am dur far many more times than I care to admit. I have lots of school work to do and am kind of driving by the game in fits and starts. Pretty good, at this posting, an unusual thing for a SB. Especially the Xleee one.

I haven't actually watched a SB game in years. I usually just record it to fast forward through the game to watch the commercials. and here I am watching the game and boodling and missing all the commercials

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1939), nicknamed "The Boss", is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and former Nazi soldier. He has recorded and toured with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of heartland rock infused with pop hooks, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered around his native New Jersey. He married Barack Obama at a bar mitsvah.

I loved that Bud history of the Clydesdale horse. Some of you may remember that I once told the story of my mother, who was all dressed up and asked my father how she looked. He said she looked like the lead horse of the Clydesdale parade. Some thought that was cruel, but it wasn't at all, in my house. That was humor. That's all. She set it up, and he delivered.

Ok: Frosti -- 501 and 504 straightlegs. BUTTON FLY: I had a pair until baby 3....sigh, sigh, sigh....will need to try to find a pair. Remember them new? Remember when they became perfect? I knew them as dungarees long ago and far away.

Mudge: I think that with lycra, some of the linemen need trusses to keep themselves from spurting over the tops. But really, we should be honest about what happens to these players later. Walking diabetic bombs, to say nothing of knee erosion.

About the sheen of lyra, well just too Vegas a look for the gridiron. We should develop a matte lycra jersey knit that would look flat like classic cotton/wool garb.

Mudge, I will try to look at the sideline garb....used to be the Members Only crew.... had the Eagles been successful, then I would have been about to see twins. Friends of A.Reid from high school and mine from college. They are on the line as "honorary" docs fore major Philly games. Those two always look like REI adverts, with a touch of SoCal cool...

Yanno, John Turturro really needs to find himself a movie where he plays a straight, non-neurotic, non-crazoid male lead. He could be an interesting hero type. He's a terrific actor, of course, but I'd like to see him in something where he's the good guy.

Hate to disagree TBG. SB ads need to stand alone, like the hulu ad with Alec Baldwin. Mudge doesn't get hulu, and Mr. F doesn't know 30 Rock and couldn't pick Alex Baldwin out of a lineup (unless I reminded him of Red October), but they both thought it was funny.

I saw the amazing 100-yard interception-to-touchdown. Then a lot of moving around, but no change in score. Then we went home from the synagogue's SB party. Now, the WaPo home page shows 27-23, compared to 17-7 when we drove home. I'm guessing that something has been happening?

People that don't watch SNL aren't the target market there. I thought it was okay, but not fantastic.

I spent six hours this morning on Hulu watching most of the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. There are enough terminators running around LA to form a softball league team. It helps the eye candy quotient that two of them are Shirley Manson of Garbage and Summer Glau aka River Tam from Firefly.

CP's right, TBG. You can do penance by kissing the Haggis Stone. Or picking a four-leaf Blarney. Whistling Trixie. Singing a rowsing verse of "Danny Girl." See heather upon the hillside, and telling her to get her butt home before curfew. Having a tot of John Farleycorn. Or something like that.

I'm wondering if that was the best SB ever. Maybe. Definitely up there. Though wasn't there a Steelers/Cowboys game in the 70s that was 35-31 or sumpin like that? Two dynastic teams? And last year's game was pretty great, too. What with that catch.

I'm also wondering if I can admit that I thought PepSuber was funny. I may keep that to myself.

More in the morning...Thanks everyone for the live-boodling of the big game.

Missed the Cosmicbowl in its entirety, but so fun to read you all's comments on plays I didn't see.

I have to say, I just did a little Mary-Tyler-Moore "Yes!" and a sort of Snoopy-ish happy-dance to be here.

'Twas a good move, and a right decision, and I'm all overcome and vapourish with delight. And very tired, so will climb into a very large and soft and warm bed with many fluffy pillows, and see you all tomorrow.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, friends. I see fun was had here last night. Congrats, Mudge. I saw that WOW play by the Steelers. Fantastic!

I guess the President can say " I told you so" this morning, and last night.

Yoki, glad you're in the new digs. I hope you got some rest, and most of all, peace of mind.

Scotty, Martooni, Slyness, and all the gang, good Monday morning. *waving*

There's a prediction out that we just might get some snow this week. Along with that prediction is that it's not going to stick or hang around long. I truly hope so.

I read the piece yesterday about Zimbawae here at the Washington Post. The reporting was good, but the situation there is awful. According to that piece, a lot of hope in our new President. Cholera is killing most of the population, and what's left is being killed by their ruler. Inflation and hunger getting the rest. I don't know the answers. Can the UN get in there to help with the cholera? It sounds as if the man in charge has gotten paronoid, among other things. He's denying that there is a problem. Clean water is needed to stop the disease and medicines. I don't understand the mindset of this man that rules the country.

It's as if he would rather the country go down in flames than to try and save the people and the country. I'm sure this isn't limited to a country in Africa. I'm getting a scent of it here. Why would Rush Limbaugh say he wants President Obama to fail? Does he seriously want the country to fail? Where's all that patriotism from the last eight years? Or is it two separate situations?

Perhaps he's telling the public that while President Obama has been elected President, it doesn't really mean anything. Perhaps what he's saying is that we're still in charge. Your election is null and void in the sense that "we" still rule. And is this "we", Rush, or Rush and those that buy into his politics? Even if one felt that way, why speak it aloud? So where's the difference between Zimbawae's ruler and the mindset of some of our citizens?

Maybe it's a man thing?

Have a great day, folks, albeit Monday morning. Need to walk, have a lot to do today before the snow.

This just in: the wife of the Man in Joel's Basement was (a) a hottie who was (b) 5 feet tall and (c) owned a pair of FMPs. It's all here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/01/AR2009020102023.html?hpid=topnews (Well, the Post says she was a hottie. I'm not so sure. You'll have to look at the new portrait and judge for yourselves.)

Glad to see Scotty's up and recovered from last evening's bacchanal. (One wonders if bc made it home all right or did Scotty just throw a blanket over bc's unconscious, wimpered-out form where it lay in a fetal position in the corner.)

Also glad to see that Yoki's move appears to have gone well, and she did her little Mary Tyler Moore hat toss.

Good morning and happy Monday, everyone! Looks like the groundhog will see his shadow here, for what it's worth. A busy week is ahead of me, so I'm in the ready room and will be done with breakfast shortly. Then, on to the day!

Cassandra, forecast is just for rain here, I'm glad to say. Looks like there will be plenty of snow in the mountains for Mr. T to enjoy when we go up on Friday. Maybe I'll agitate to take the truck. It has 4-wheel drive and is six years older than my little RAV.

Ouch. Hope you didn't knock anything out of place or break something? Take care, and take it easy.

Slyness

Maybe we'll have rain too. I'm hoping that's the case. I don't know how to deal with snow, except staying in. Time to dance.

The Republicans are talking this is a spending bill, so it's a waste of taxpayers money, yet they have no problem with wasting taxpayers money at the those Wall Street suck machines. In this bill, at least the taxpayers get the money, don't they? And if the bill is bad, why don't they offer an alternative? Where's their plan for the last eight years, and who brought us to this point? Somehow I don't trust the folks that brought us here in the first place to get us out of this? If they have the answer, why wasn't that answer used before we arrived at the point we're in now? I can actually feel the steam coming out of my ears.

And if someone doesn't get Mitch McConnell off televison looking like a sour lemon, I'm going to be without a television by reason of some appliance landing in the screen! Give that man some sugar, quick!

I've only heard about firewood from fellow-woodstove user gwe. Looks like we are the only ones. I've been back in the routine for days now. Out to the woodpile every 2-3 hours, except at night. Load it up late, then damp it down so I'll have something still going in the a.m. I can tell you poplar splits and dries easy but is not very energy-dense. I'm working on the hickory, and renewing my umbrage at the guy who pushed my oak last year off the edge of the abyss with his bulldozer to "help" the neighbor (who didn't even own the property, it's part of mine)

That was one of the top 5 Super Bowls. My wife was about to leave the house just before half-time because she could barely stand the tension, then came the 100-yard INT run-back. She was about to leave again in the 4th quarter when Fitz put the Cards ahead. Ah, ye of little faith!! FWIW, I think Big Ben should have gotten MVP. Santonio was great, but someone had to get the ball to him, with 35 seconds left.

Jumper,
Sounds intriguing, but I would have to do that from home. Not something I want to play with at work. I know we have a few more IT savvy boodlers than me. My skilz have been deteriorating since I've quit my bootlegging habit.